Alpine Esports starts its F1 season and Collin Spork sets the fastest lap in Le Mans 8 Hours of Bahrain
- 16-year-old driver Luke Smith debuted in round 3 of the F1 Series, finishing 10th place and earning his first point of the series
- Collin Spork set the fastest lap in the LMP category of Le Mans Virtual Series’ 8 Hours of Bahrain with an impressive lap time of 1:42.606
23 September 2022
Alpine Esports had an action-packed week as the team participated in both the kick of the F1 Esports Series 2022 and the Le Mans Virtual Series. Over five days, Alpine Esports competed in a total of four races and saw the team lay the foundation for a highly anticipated season.
F1 ESPORTS SERIES
After three nail-biting races in the first event for the F1 Esports Series, Alpine Esports landed in 9th place in the team standings with 5 points. The first event in the F1 Esports Series proved to be a learning experience for the Alpine Esports team.
During the first round in Bahrain, Patrik Sipos saw a strong start before receiving a 5-second penalty for entering the pitlane too quickly. Unfortunately, this blunder put him out of points contention, resulting in finishing him in 18th place. Filip Prešnadjer drove without issue, finishing in 11th place.
The second round took place in Imola. After narrowly avoiding a crash with reigning double world champion Jarno Opmeer, Patrik and Filip qualified in 17th and 13th place, respectively. A mistake from Patrik resulted in a car spin and a broken front wing, as a result, he finished in 18th place, and Filip finished in 15th place.
Round 3, in Great Britain, saw the debut of 16-year-old driver Luke Smith, qualifying in 7th place, with Patrik qualifying in 8th place - both drivers qualified in Q3. After an impressive race, Luke finished in 10th place, earning his first point of the series! Patrik finished in 8th place.
Driver Luke Smith said “I’m pleased with my performance in the qualifiers, reaching Q3 and competing against drivers of this calibre is an incredible experience – I gave everything I had during the race. I lacked rhythm during the race, this is something I will improve for the next event. Overall, I’m satisfied with my performance, my first point for my first race! We are now getting focused on the second event.”
Driver Patrik Sipos added “In general, I think we can get some positivity from this event. We knew that we may have some difficulties, finally, less important than expected. I made some mistakes, I will try to correct that for the next event, Silverstone showed us that we have the potential.”
Alpine Esports Team Principal Richard Arnaud added “As expected, this season of F1 Esports is the most competitive season ever. With a revamped and young squad, we knew we would experience some early mistakes. The positive is that we can play for points in each race with our 3 drivers. We must give the team time to adapt. We know what we must improve on for the drivers and the car setup. We cannot wait for the second event to fight it out and continue to grow and progress together!”
LE MANS VIRTUAL SERIES
Le Mans Virtual Series’ 8 Hours of Bahrain race saw an impressive performance from the Alpine Esports team. After heart-wrenching technical issues, Alpine Esports placed 17th in the race, earning 1 point.
Tom Lartilleux began the endurance race in 7th position before Rory Macduff took over and fought for a position at the top. For the final attack, Collin Spork took the wheel however uncontrollable technical issues began to arise. Collin did set the fastest lap in the LMP category with an astonishing lap time of 1:42.606.
Driver Collin Spork said “Of course, I am disappointed with the result, the race started perfectly, and we were going to finish in the top 5. Despite that, we showed that we had a great pace and a lot of potential. We will come back stronger to rise to the top of the leaderboard.”
Alpine Esports Race Director Robin Bondon added “After a good qualifying round and a solid start, we were unfortunately affected by technical problems. It’s a great shame as we were in the battle for fourth place. However, we shall retain the positives, it was the first race with only one month of preparation from the group and were are already competing for top four. We believe in our potential, and we will come back in Monza more motivated than ever for the second race!”
CLASSIFICATIONS
F1 Esports Series 2022
2022 PRO Championship Round 1 – Sakhir
- Lucas Blakeley (Mclaren Shadow) 29 laps
- Jarno Opmeer (Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Esports) + 0.424
- Bari Boroumand (McLaren Shadow) +1.328
- Simon Weigang (Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Esports) + 2.769
- Daniel Moreno (Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Esports) +3.144
- Filip Prešnadjer (Alpine Esports) +13.622
- Patrik Sipos (Alpine Esports) +48.264
2022 PRO Championship Round 2 – Imola
- Lucas Blakeley (Mclaren Shadow) 32 laps
- Marcel Kiefer (Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Esports) + 0.469
- Frederik Rasmussen (Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Esports) +1.132
- Thomas Ronhaart (Haas F1 Team Esports) +3.216
- Daniel Moreno (Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Esports) +4.027
- Filip Prešnadjer (Alpine Esports) +19.900
- Patrik Sipos (Alpine Esports) +1:08.873
2022 PRO Championship Round 3 – Silverstone
- Frederik Rasmussen (Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Esports) 26 laps
- Thomas Ronhaar (Haas F1 Team Esports) + 0.673
- Lucas Blakeley (Mclaren Shadow) +1.925
- Sebastian Job (Scuderia AlphaTauri Esports) +2.446
- Jarno Opmeer (Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Esports) +3.960
- Patrik Sipos (Alpine Esports) +6.135
- Luke Smith (Alpine Esports) +7.022
F1 Esports Series - PRO Championship 2022
Drivers
- Lucas Blakely (Mclaren Shadow) – 65 points
- Frederik Rasmussen (Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Esports) – 44 points
- Thomas Ronhaar (Haas F1 Team Esports) – 30 points
- Jarno Opmeer (Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Esports) – 28 points
- Bari Boroumand (McLaren Shadow) – 21 points
- Patrik Sipos (Alpine Esports) – 4 points
- Luke Smith (Alpine Esports) – 1 point
- Filip Prešnadjer (Alpine Esports) – 0 point
Constructors
- McLaren Shadow – 86 points
- Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Esports – 62 points
- Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Esports – 48 points
- Haas F1 Team Esports – 38 points
- Scuderia AlphaTauri Esports – 21 points
- Scuderia Ferrari Velas Esports – 18 points
- Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Esports – 14 points
- Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN F1 – 10 points
- Alpine Esports – 5 points
- Williams Esports – 1 point
Le Mans Virtual Series 2022/2023 Round 1 – Bahrain Race Results
- Floyd Vanwall-Burst n°4 269 laps
- R8G Esports n°8 269 laps
- Team Redline n°1 269 laps
- Porsche Coanda n°20 269 laps
- Nextview Vanwall-Burst n°444 269 laps
- Alpine Esports n°36 262 laps
Le Mans Virtual Series 2022/2023 – Constructors Championship
- Floyd Vanwall-Burst n°4 – 38 points
- R8G Esports n°8 – 27 points
- Team Redline n°1 – 23 points
- Porsche Coanda n°20 – 18 points
- Nextview Vanwall-Burst n°444 – 15 points
- Alpine Esports – 1 point
Founded in 1955 by Jean Rédélé, Alpine has asserted itself over the years with its French-style sports cars. In 2018, the brand presented the new A110, a sports car that is true to Alpine’s timeless principles of compactness, lightness, agility and driving pleasure. In 2021, the Alpine Business Unit was created, to become the dedicated brand for the innovative, authentic and exclusive sports cars of the Renault Group, benefiting from the heritage and know-how of its historic Dieppe factory and the engineering expertise of the Alpine Racing and Alpine Cars teams.
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Founded in 1955 by Jean Rédélé, Alpine has asserted itself over the years with its French-style sports cars. In 2018, the brand presented the new A110, a sports car that is true to Alpine’s timeless principles of compactness, lightness, agility and driving pleasure. In 2021, the Alpine Business Unit was created, to become the dedicated brand for the innovative, authentic and exclusive sports cars of the Renault Group, benefiting from the heritage and know-how of its historic Dieppe factory and the engineering expertise of the Alpine Racing and Alpine Cars teams.
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